At least 61 Iraqis
were killed and 84 more were wounded across the country. While a suicide bombing
in Baghdad was the most significant incident of the day, a mass grave gave up
almost as many dead in Khalis. Meanwhile, 12,000 U.S. servicemembers will be receiving
orders to leave Iraq by September. Also, the family of a U.S.-veteran
turned security contractor said that a sniper killed him in Baghdad on
Wednesday.

Maj. Gen. David Perkins announced
that 12,000 U.S. and 4,000 British servicemembers will be leaving Iraq by September.
There was no mention whether the troops will be sent home or transferred to Afghanistan.
The U.S. and Iraq agreed to the removal of most troops from Iraqi cities by June
of this year and entirely by 2011; however, President Obama has promised a surge
in troops for Afghanistan.

Twenty-five
bodies were recovered from eight separate graves in al-Bu Tima. A number
of mass graves have been found in the Khalis district over the last several months.
Many date to the height of the sectarian violence, when authorities believe al-Qaeda
groups ran their own courts in the area.